About Eliciting Esperance: Books Between Friends with Sarah Berke
Books worth reading. Conversations worth having.
I believe there’s enough negativity on the internet, so I don’t do book reviews—I do book recommendations. Things I read and love or find interesting for discussion that I think you might enjoy, too.
elicitingesperance.substack.com (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/s/books-between-friends?utm_medium=podcast)
Books & Banter: Maybe, Maybe Not by Elizabeth Gillman
What if the things we do to feel safe are also the things keeping us from fully living? In this conversation, author Elizabeth Gilman and I explore that question through her novel Maybe, Maybe Not, which follows Annie as she navigates OCD, grief, friendship, and the uncertainty that comes with changing a life she has built around what feels safe. We talk about what OCD is really like to live with, why reassurance and anxiety don’t always work the way we expect, and the difficult distinction between loving someone and accommodating their fears.
But this conversation reaches well beyond OCD. We talk about the friends who help us become braver, how we find our footing when the person we lean on is the person we’re grieving, and how to know when a familiar way of coping is helping us survive versus keeping us stuck. You might like this conversation if you’ve ever struggled with uncertainty, loved someone through something you couldn’t fix, or wondered how to build a life shaped less by fear and more by what matters to you.
Related links
* Click here (https://youtu.be/5yuGUNI6GJw?si=0F-KCCOgKCoMGYc1) to watch this conversation on YouTube.
* Click here (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/maybe-maybe-not) to read my written review of Maybe, Maybe Not.
* Click here (https://bookshop.org/a/121937/9798996893133) to buy Maybe, Maybe Not.
* Click here (https://elizabethgillman.squarespace.com/) to subscribe to Elizabeth's e-mail list.
If you'd like to receive new Books & Banter conversations in your inbox, subscribe to Eliciting Esperance (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/). And if this episode resonated with you, please consider sharing it with a friend or rating the podcast. Both help more people find this work, and I'm grateful.
Esperance (es-per-uhns): the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.
Thank you to Mallory Ayres Griffiths (https://pixabay.com/users/melodyayresgriffiths-27269767/) for the use of their human-created music for this podcast.
Get full access to Eliciting Esperance at elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
19 Oct 2026
Maybe, Maybe Not
This might be for you if you or a loved one fights the tentacles of the OCD octopus, you enjoy a coming-of-age story with an adult protagonist, you enjoy an underdog (especially if the force the underdog is fighting comes from within), or you like women’s fiction with depth.
Click here (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/maybe-maybe-not) if you’d prefer to read this content.
Click here (https://bookshop.org/a/121937/9798996893133) to order the book.
If you'd like to receive these recommendations in both written and audio form, subscribe to Eliciting Esperance (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/). And if this episode resonated with you, please consider sharing it with a friend or rating the podcast. Both help more people find this work, and I'm grateful.
Esperance (es-per-uhns): the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.
Thank you to Mallory Ayres Griffiths (https://pixabay.com/users/melodyayresgriffiths-27269767/) for the use of their human-created music for this podcast.
Get full access to Eliciting Esperance at elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
1 Oct 2026
Notes on an Execution
This might be for you if you like books that refuse easy answers; you’re fascinated by why people do what they do (even when there’s no clear answer); you embrace portraits of moral and ethical complexity, deeply complex characters, and explorations of good and evil; you’re a fan of suspenseful literary fiction; or you’ve enjoyed books by Liz Moore and/or Chris Whitaker.
A content warning: this book may not be for you if any of the following topics would be triggering: death of a child, murder, the death penalty, or child abandonment.
Full Book Break: https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/book-break-notes-on-an-execution (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/book-break-notes-on-an-execution)
Subscribe: elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe (http://elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe)
Get full access to Eliciting Esperance at elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
17 Sept 2026
Books & Banter: Pretty As A Peach with Author Grace Helena Walz
Check out my full review of the book here: https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/peach-pit-darlings (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/peach-pit-darlings?r=2clfct)
Get full access to Eliciting Esperance at elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
16 Sept 2026
Peach Pit Darlings
This might be for you if you like books that are fun on the surface but have real emotional heft, are a fan of love stories beyond romantic ones, are a mom (well, any woman, really) who struggles with the expectations of beauty our society has, have ever felt like you don’t quite fit in with your family, or love Southern fiction by Southern authors.
Delilah Thomas is a preschool teacher who also runs a small business making organic soaps with all natural ingredients. She’s a member of The Five, a group of friends who is like the mafia minus murder and crime. They’ve been friends since they were kids and have always been there for each other, especially in the hardest of times.
But when Peach Pit, a multi-level marketing company, infects every corner of their little town, Delilah starts putting pieces together that build a picture of a company which is taking advantage of the women in her community—including her friends. But Delilah’s friends are caught up in it, and she has to choose whether to risk lifelong friendships in order to expose Peach Pit for the predatory company it is, or go along with it and keep watching people get hurt.
Read the review here: https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/peach-pit-darlings (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/peach-pit-darlings?r=2clfct&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true)
Watch my conversation with the author: https://youtu.be/XYiCdYr8crE (https://youtu.be/XYiCdYr8crE)
Get full access to Eliciting Esperance at elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe (https://elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
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